Karma
by Tune4Toons
Summary: Gift!fic to Lady Paprika. — It all started when he realised Robin's a woman.


_Author's Note: You can say this is an implied Chrom/F!Robin, and oh gosh, I just loved the support convos between them—and as such, this takes place between bath incident one (support convo C/B) and bath incident two (support convo B/A). It seemed a lot more plausible for a relationship than pie too IMO (no offence to canon and Sumia) XD. Just to disclaim, I wish I could make a lot of certain things canon haha._

_Anyways, happy belated birthday, Pap! Enjoy~_

* * *

It wasn't like Chrom had meant to walk into the women's bathing tent.

He'd like to think of himself as an honest man; he's a noble, not a perve. However, Robin's scream still hasn't left his mind; it continues echoing without command, let alone the image of her exposed figure through the steam that keeps popping up in his—

_No, stop_. Heat creeps up to his cheeks as he tries to push the thoughts out of his mind. _It was an honest mistake_, he keeps telling himself. _Just talk to Robin and it'll go back to normal_.

He soon hears footsteps behind the tent he's standing near. Then a voice.

"Hey Lissa? Have you seen Chrom anywhere?"

Robin's, no less. Half of himself tries to walk around the tent to meet her, but his other half keeps him locked in place.

"No," Lissa says. "He probably went out on patrol with Frederick."

Chrom makes a mental note to thank Lissa later, but look at him. He's standing flat behind a tent when he should be talking to his tactician—or at least patrolling with Frederick, which is starting to sound like a good idea right now. One step forward—

"But I did hear you screaming the other day," Lissa continues. "And Chrom was there too, right? What happened?"

—and he's back to sticking close to the tent again, ears now drawn to their conversation.

"Nothing happened, Lissa. Don't worry. I just had a little accident, that's all."

"Were you hurt anywhere?"

"No, and like I said, nothing happened. It's fine."

As for Chrom, he let out a sigh. Maybe she did forgive him. Then again, she already said so the day the bath incident did happen, so why's he still thinking about it?

Then he hears Robin chuckle. "But do you know what Chrom said about me the other day?"

And it takes all he has to not lean too far forward for a better listen.

"He said I wasn't a lady. And apparently I'm not pretty enough to be one either."

"What?!"

_Oh no_. A tone like that from Lissa can only mean one thing.

"How rude. You know what? I'm gonna look for him too. Just wait here and let me get my things."

Eyes wide, the shuffling inside the tent keeps him frozen still. He'd forgotten about _that_ time he was talking with Robin—but he still remembers the rock she tried to throw at him for saying she wasn't a lady. Gods, she can be so violent sometimes. Another mental note to himself: don't piss off the women.

Chrom peeks out from the corner of the tent. He can still hear Lissa inside said tent, but Robin's the only one standing outside. Then her eyes flicker in his direction.

He snaps back behind the tent. He could've sworn she saw him just now. One gulp, then sweat. _Pray she didn't. Pray she didn't_.

Thoughts mantra'd in his head as he steals another peek. Lissa stumbles out of the tent, bouncing on her toes and ready to go. Robin herself is adjusting her cloak, but just before they leave, she steals a quick glance in Chrom's direction—and he swears she gave him a sharp glare just now. Then Lissa and Robin start walking across the grass field towards the main dirt path.

So much for her forgiving him.

* * *

Chrom often catches himself staring at her nowadays. Sometimes, he wonders when the habit had started. Right now, Robin and he are inside his tent discussing travel routes. Her fingers glide over the map on the table in front of them before she circles a patch of green printed on it.

"If we go through the forest, we can get to the valley faster and set up camp just a little before the cliff."

It's not as if her voice has changed, but only now does he notice the softness within her blunt tone. He likes listening to her talk—better to like it than to dislike it since she talks most of the time; she is the tactician, after all.

"There might be a few bandits camping out here and there away from the main road, but not enough to outnumber us."

Did she always smell this nice too? Like those flowers from the pathway. She must've taken a bath earlier— _Oh no_. The memory's starting to come back. _Keep it out_, he tells himself. This is a strategy meeting. He should be paying attention, but his feet are already preparing to shuffle towards the exit.

"So if we stick together, we'll have enough manpower to withstand even a potential ambush."

_Stop thinking about it_ repeats like a cycle in his head, yet he can feel his face heat up at even the slightest thought of her naked. _Just stare at the map_, he tells himself, and he keeps his eyes wide open. _Don't think about it. Don't think about it_.

"Chrom?"

His head snaps up. "Huh?"

"You agree with the plan?"

He nods while spouting, "Yup yup. Sounds good."

Robin raises a brow, giving him a weird stare before a roaring silence befalls them for a few seconds. He swallows. Had it lasted any longer, he would've been ready to bolt out of the tent.

But then she grabs the map and rolls it up, still giving him that stare. "Pay attention next time. You've been sleeping enough?"

Chrom sighs, nodding while mumbling yet another apology when it hasn't even been that long since the bath incident—as if he hadn't apologised for that one enough either.

"Rest in early today. Wouldn't want our leader to be catching a cold."

_Of course she noticed_, he thinks. Though a cold sounds like a good excuse to use.

* * *

By now, Chrom's certain she knows he's been avoiding her.

He hears other people tell him that Robin's been looking for him once in a while, but why is it so hard to stay in a room alone with her? Curse his ears—if he had heard her better that time, he wouldn't be stuck dumbfounded at the thought of her nak—

_Stop, stop, stop!_ Gah, now _he's_ ready to throw something at himself. He spots Robin between two tents, and he finds himself walking in the other direction. Chrom keeps her in his sights as he lengthens the distance between them.

When he arrives at his own tent and Robin's no longer within eyeshot, he steps in and starts pacing around the floor, mentally hitting himself. He's doing it again. He knows he'll need to talk to her eventually. If she hasn't noticed how he's been avoiding him now, he figures she will suspect it soon.

Maybe he can clear his head with a nice bath— Actually, that does sound like a good idea, he tells himself. Then when he's done, he'll go find Robin and have a normal conversation with her like the way they did before the entire "incident" happened. He nods to himself before he heads towards the men's bath tent.

Once there and the second he pours water down his back, the steam and heat quickly simmer his thoughts into a blank, and for the first time in a while, not a single worry lingered in his mind.

He closes his eyes, listening to the voices of his crew outside. Maybe he should do this more often; his muscles have never felt this relaxed before. A few minutes in, he hears footsteps heading in his direction, and he opens his eyes—

"Aaaaaaaggggghhhh!"

—only to see Robin screaming by the entrance, and he jumps up without a moment's notice.

"Robin?! Where'd you come from?" Then the situation sinks in when her face alights with red.

She continues yelling as the heat rises to Chrom's head, but the instant he sees her pick up the soap dish, he inches away as fast as he can until he realises he's near the edge of the tent.

For Gods' sake, _he's_ the naked one now.

At least have mercy on him, please?

* * *

_Tune4Toons: God, Chrom was just too funny during those support convos. XD Haha they also reminded me of stuff someone else would say… ;) Happy belated birthday, Pap! Hope that serves to your liking, you sneaky Slendy. :P I always figured this might give name to your self-proclaimed title._

_As for you guys, I hope you liked that too! Thanks for reading! Cheers!_


End file.
